Oct 31, 2012

Oct 21, 2012

While I was getting my groceries out of the car after I came home from the store this morning, I thought I heard one of our cats meowing. I didn't see where it was so I just kept taking sacks into the house. Each time I would go outside I would hear the cat again and he sounded strange. When I went inside for the last time, I asked Kelly if she would go outside with me and see if we could find where the kitty was. We looked around for a bit, he kept meowing and then Kelly looked up. There he was in one of our huge pine trees, pacing back & forth on one of the limbs. Poor kitty, he was so scared. We found the tallest ladder that we had at home and it wasn't even close to reaching him. So I called my son and told him what happened. He was at his house with my Hubby building a new garage, and that was where the taller ladders were. They said they would get him him down when they finished what they were doing. We thought the poor thing was going to be stranded for a few more hours, but it was just a short time later that my daughter and my other two grandkids came over. Kelly showed them where the kitty was and they came up with this plan. LOL

The grandkids got an old blanket that they could hold in case he fell. Tammi got the leaf catcher net for the pool. They put a little cat food in the net, hoping the cat would just go into it, but he wouldn't go for that. Tammi ended up having to push him out of the tree with the net. When that cat hit the blanket, he was out of there in one hop and high-tailed it away.

I was laughing so much that it was hard to keep the camera still. Hubby and Tom were glad to hear that they didn't have to haul the ladders home.

Oct 6, 2012

I have been EXTREMELY busy this year with canning and freezing. Although I have canned for many years, this year we have gone all out! My eldest daughter, my Mom and I have been canning our old regular recipes (salsa, tomato sauce, applesauce , etc) and trying a few different things.
My Uncle Bert gets tons of potatoes from a farmer that grows potatoes to sell to restaurants... for free. He then donates them to churches and food banks. He graciously let my family come and get some too. I brought home over 5 bushels. I think we spent a whole week mashing, cutting into hash browns or french fries, deep frying part done and freezing. I even tried canning a few quarts. We have already ate some of the mashed and the french fries. They were DELICIOUS!!
One of the recipes that I have to can every year is one that I got from my sister-in-law a couple years back. Sweet Pickle Relish made from zucchini.

I like to can mine in 1/2 pints because we don't use it that often. But we can't hardly eat a hotdog now without some of this relish on it and it's really good added to chicken salad.
The instructions are pretty straight-and-to-the-point. If you're going to try and make this and need some more explanations, please send me an email or a comment and I will get back with you.

Except for a few more raspberries, the garden has been all cleaned up and is ready for winter. Now I will spend some time canning things like "Meals in a Jar", homemade soups or chicken. Or maybe I will get lucky again and have a friend bring me over some deer meat to can.
I will have lots more room for all my canned goods soon. Remember that craft room that I was going to show you?

Well now it's getting turned into a pantry! PERFECT! This room is situated right off the kitchen and will be so handy! Can you tell how excited I am? I'm going to be installing the shelving in the next couple of days. Since I haven't been doing much crafting lately, it makes so much more sense to make this room the best ever pantry.

If you like to do jam & jelly canning, or you would like to win some homemade vanilla extract and tarragon vinegar....check out Canarella's giveaway on my sidebar.

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Anne's giveaway

ends Feb.9

Isabel's Giveaway

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Sorry I couldn't get the pic to work. It's lovely & you should check it out at above link.
Ends Feb. 14